In Memoriam

World Series champion, TV analyst Tim McCarver passed away at the age of 81.

Kyle Jacobs (June 26, 1973-February 17, 2023)
American country singer-songwriter, musician and producer. Has written, among others, Tim McGraw's Nashville Without You and Trace Adkins' I Can't Outrun You. Married to singer Kellie Pickler, he was 49.
His death occurs 10 years after Mindy McCready's suicide. Coincidence or premonition?

Gary Rossington, the last living original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, died at 71 this past Sunday of unknown causes. He played lead and rhythm guitar for the band, and was also a founding member of Rossington Collins Band with fellow Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Allen Collins.

Jerry Samuels, more famously known as Napoleon XIV, died today at 84. He is well-remembered for the iconic '60s novelty song "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!", which reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and went on to be covered by many artists.

Robert Blake, actor. 89 Best known for his role in the series Baretta, his first acting came from being a part of the Our Gang/Little Rascals film series. Film roles included In Cold Blood, PT 109, Electra Glide in Blue, Money Train and Lost Highway was his final film roll. He was accused of murdering his second wife, Bonnie Lee Bakley in 2005. Bakley, who had had a shady past, was found shot in Blake's car on May 4, 2001.
He is survived by 3 children.

Chaim Topol, the veteran stage and screen actor who delighted audiences as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, died at 87. Israeli President Isaac Herzog announced his death on March 9. Born in Tel Aviv in 1935, Topol received international acclaim for his performance as Tevye — a pious, hard-working father raising seven daughters — in the 1971 film adaptation of the musical. His powerful performance earned Topol his second Golden Globe after he won for Most Promising Male Newcomer in 1964. Over the course of his career, Topol appeared, to his estimate, in more than 3,500 Fiddler on the Roof performances from the 1960s to 2009. He also starred in 1964's Sallah Shabati, 1975's Galileo, 1980's Flash Gordon, and the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only.

Tom Sizemore, an actor who made memorable turns in Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down, and Heat, died March 3 at 61 after suffering a brain aneurysm. Sizemore worked with many of Hollywood's most esteemed directors, including Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone, and Michael Mann, and amassed more than 200 film and television credits, including True Romance, Natural Born Killers, Born on the Fourth of July, Strange Days, The Relic, Passenger 57, and Blue Steel. The embattled star struggled with drug abuse and faced numerous legal troubles, including a 2003 domestic violence conviction involving former fiancee Heidi Fleiss.

Richard Belzer, the comedian and actor best known for his role as John Munch on the Law & Order franchise, died Feb. 19 at the age of 78. Belzer began his career as a stand-up comic, but his most memorable role came as investigator John Munch in the NBC crime drama Homicide: Life on the Street, which aired between 1993 and 1997, before becoming a fixture on the long-running Law & Order franchise. Over the course of two decades, Belzer played the wisecracking investigator not just within the franchise but in several other shows that spanned different networks, including The X-Files, The Wire, Arrested Development, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and 30 Rock. His other credits included films Scarface, Missing Pieces, The Puppet Masters and shows Mad About You, Minding the Store, and American Dad. A self-proclaimed conspiracy theorist, Belzer also authored a series of books, including UFOs, JFK, and Elvis: Conspiracies You Don't Have to Be Crazy to Believe and Hit List: An In-Depth Investigation into the Mysterious Deaths of Witnesses to the JFK Assassination. Belzer survived testicular cancer in 1983, which he discussed in his stand-up special Another Lone Nut. His final words according to family..."F*** You, M*****F******"

Mark Sheehan (October 29, 1976-April 14, 2023)
Irish guitarist, member of Mytown and The Script respectively. He was 46.

Jamaican-American singer, actor and activist Harry Belafonte has died from congestive heart failure at the age of 96. One of the most influential figures in calypso music, he is best known for iconic songs such as "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" and "Jump In The Line", as well as organizing the supergroup USA For Africa, who recorded the Grammy Award-winning song "We Are The World" in 1985.

Talk show host and politician Jerry Springer has passed away at 79 due to pancreatic cancer. He was best known for hosting the controversial Jerry Springer Show, though I personally remember him best as the host of the GSN dating game show Baggage. He would also go on to host America's Got Talent as well as the courtroom show Judge Jerry.

Yes, I remember him for Baggage & Judge Jerry. I wonder if that's why his show (Judge Jerry) got cancelled all of a sudden. I didn't know he was sick. RIP!

I don't think anyone knew he was sick except his family. He kept it under wraps pretty much.

Bachman-Turner Overdrive Founding member Tim Bachman has died at 71 His death comes three months after his brother, Robbie Bachman, drummer for the group, passed away.

Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot has passed away at 84. Referred to as "Canada's greatest songwriter", he was influential in helping to define the folk rock sound of the 1970s and is best known for hits throughout the decade such as "If You Could Read My Mind", "Sundown", "Carefree Highway", "Rainy Day People" and "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald".

Just heard the news of Gordon's passing. Just was listening to Carefree Highway on Saturday. RIP to a true folk rock singer.

Andy Rourke, bassist for The Smiths, has died at 59 from pancreatic cancer. He played on all four of their studio albums and would go on to collaborate with Morrissey on his solo work after the band's breakup. He was also a member of the supergroup Freebass and the band D.A.R.K. (formerly known as Jetlag).

Tina Turner, singer, dancer, actress, and author and often referred to as the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll," has passed away today at the age of 83.

I cried so much RIP Tina Turner .

Anfrando Maiola (February 7, 1954-May 26, 2023)
Italian composer, arranger and founding member of the duo Koto in the early eighties, alongside Stefano Cundari (d. 1993). Known for the single Visitors.